Rioting closes electronics parts plant

TAIYUAN, China, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- Foxconn Technology, a key supplier for some of the world's biggest electronics companies, said it closed a plant in China Monday following an employee riot.

A company spokesman said several people were injured and some were detained by police after a fight Sunday escalated into a riot at the company's Taiyuan facility, The New York Times reported.

The Los Angeles Times reported the company as saying the disturbance began as a "personal dispute" between employees then "escalated" at the privately managed dormitory. The company said the incident appeared "not to have been work-related."

The company said production at its Taiyuan plant would resume Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times said.

An employee told The New York Times about 1,000 employees were involved.

Foxconn officials said the Taiyuan facility employs 79,000 people.

Foxconn officials said no property was destroyed or damaged. China's state-run news media said 5,000 police officers were dispatched to quash the trouble.

The disturbance is the latest to for Foxconn, a key supplier of products to Apple and other electronics giants, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft. Foxconn, part of the Hon Hai Group of Taiwan, has been working to improve labor conditions at its plants in China following reports of labor abuse and safety violations.

Workers at the Taiyuan facility struck in March over wages.

A Foxconn spokesman declined to say specifically whether the Taiyuan plant made products for the Apple iPhone 5, but said it supplied parts for many electronics brands, the Times said.

However, another worker at the facility said some iPhone components were made there.

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